siliconlife wrote: ↑Sun Feb 06, 2022 11:08 am

Clutch Cargo wrote: ↑Sat Feb 05, 2022 7:38 pm I def won't be watching. Aussie athletes should be boycotting it imho after the CCP boycotted Aussie products. Send them an equal message.

Now I know some will say sport shouldn't be politicised. Well sorry, I think it already is with gov funding with a view to national prestige..

Perhaps some who say as much would openly flaunt the contrary, as well? On Uyghur athlete, Dinigeer Yilamujiang:

"The 20-year-old cross country skier was one of the two athletes lighting the Olympic cauldron — which was actually a giant snowflake — Friday night at the opening ceremony for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

She appeared in headlines around the world as a symbol of the Uyghur people, who accuse the Chinese government of human rights violations. Choosing Yilamujiang was seen as an overtly political move which brought even more attention to the Uyghurs in the wake of diplomatic boycotts by the United States and other nations.

...

While Yilamujiang is arguably the most scrutinized cross country skier at the moment, she placed 43rd among 62 finishers as Therese Johaug of Norway won the first gold medal of these Olympics. Yilamujiang finished 5 minutes and 57 seconds behind Johaug."

https://www.infobae.com/aroundtherings/ ... s-a-skier/

One reason I don’t get excited about the Olympics is that I’m old enough to remember when the games were exclusively for amateur athletes/sportsmen, proudly competing for their nations honor.
Nowadays they’re all full time paid professionals, in it for personal/financial gain, sometimes showing disdain for the country they are supposedly representing, and very often prepared to cheat and win at any cost. The gold medalist mentioned, Therese Johaug, for example, is a full time professional, who was banned some years back for doping.
The fact is these days the person who is first past the post, jumps/throws highest/furthest is often not the ‘winner’, oftentimes, long after the competition is finished, the actual medalists are being determined by the outcomes of doping tests, kind of takes the shine off it for me.
But here’s a question, If professional athletes/sportsmen are allowed to compete in most Olympic events, why not boxers? Maybe Tyson Fury would like an Olympic medal before he hangs up his gloves? To deny him the opportunity seems discriminatory to me.

I hate the whole medal count aspect of it, aka which country gets the most medals and therefore considered 'better'... ugh!

I would have thought the athlete comes first and the country they happen to come from is secondary. This competition between countries is toxic imo and seems to serve governments rather than the people I think.

This year sounds like it'll be a mixed bag though with some countries/athletes boycotting. Nevertheless, presumably the PRC will do well in the medal count.

Clutch Cargo wrote: ↑Sun Feb 06, 2022 3:23 pm I hate the whole medal count aspect of it, aka which country gets the most medals and therefore considered 'better'... ugh!

I would have thought the athlete comes first and the country they happen to come from is secondary. This competition between countries is toxic imo and seems to serve governments rather than the people I think.

This year sounds like it'll be a mixed bag though with some countries/athletes boycotting. Nevertheless, presumably the PRC will do well in the medal count.

That’s what sports is all about - winning.
Athletes do it for themselves and for their country. Have done for a long time.

Medal count stats should be calculated with the size of population to be fair. Otherwise, big countries generally get more medals, especially when China starts including medal counts from Hong Kong and Taiwan

sigmoid wrote: ↑Sat Feb 05, 2022 3:39 pm

Chad Sexington wrote: ↑Sat Feb 05, 2022 3:31 pm

sigmoid wrote: ↑Sat Feb 05, 2022 3:20 pm Beach volleyball (women's) and diving (womens)

So, basically anything involving fit women in swimsuits getting airborne

Yes, and also some track and field events such as the high jump and long jump.

Err, you do know all your favourite events are in summer Olympics?

C'mon who didn't love Cool Runnings ?

Chad Sexington wrote: ↑Sun Feb 06, 2022 2:23 pm ...
One reason I don’t get excited about the Olympics is that I’m old enough to remember when the games were exclusively for amateur athletes/sportsmen, proudly competing for their nations honor.
Nowadays they’re all full time paid professionals, in it for personal/financial gain...

I agree up to a point. These athletes put in a lot of hard work, often devoting their lives to it, and missing out on other opportunities if they don't come up top winners. But they did used to be for amateur athletes and the games were much more interesting with real people, with real jobs outside of sports taking time off for the games. That is what the Olympics were originally meant to be. I may be wrong but I think it was the Russians and other Eastern European Block countries that first started using full time professionals, dressed up as armatures. Now all countries do it, but still pretend they don't. And the best professional athletes don't have time to devote to the Olympics because they would loose so much money spending their time there instead of where they could be making real money. It is neither professional nor amateur, so what is it. Takes a bit of the glow off of it for me. But then again, these athletes do put their lives into this, and very few of us ever pursue anything in our lives with the kind of passion that these people do. It is neither amateur nor professional, so what is it? It is the Olympics, maybe that is enough.

Doc67 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 09, 2022 10:54 am

sigmoid wrote: ↑Sat Feb 05, 2022 3:39 pm

Chad Sexington wrote: ↑Sat Feb 05, 2022 3:31 pm

sigmoid wrote: ↑Sat Feb 05, 2022 3:20 pm Beach volleyball (women's) and diving (womens)

So, basically anything involving fit women in swimsuits getting airborne

Yes, and also some track and field events such as the high jump and long jump.

Err, you do know all your favourite events are in summer Olympics?

Yeah sure, but it was about 30 degrees C here today. With endless summer, there's no need to acknowledge the existence of other seasons.

And don't forget about weightlifting...